As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a prior art game racket 10 comprises a head 11, a handle 14, and a shaft 15 bridging the head 11 and the handle 14. The head 11 is composed of a ball-striking surface 13, which is formed by a network of longitudinal strings 12 and horizontal strings 12 passing respectively through string holes 16 in the head 11.
The ball-striking surface 13 is composed of a number of intersections 17 formed by the longitudinal strings 12 and the horizontal strings 12. Within the effective area of the ball-striking surface 13, the distance between the two intersections 17 is on the order of 11-18 mm, with each of the longitudinal segment 12' and the horizontal segment 12", which are adjacent to the intersection 17, having its own inclination direction and inclination rate or angle. Upon hitting a ball, the ball-striking surface 13 is distorted by a force. As a result, the ball and the ball-striking surface 13 form a contact area of a predetermined size. The size of the contact area depends on the speed of the ball that hits the ball-striking surface 13, ranging between the area formed by the four intersections a, b, c and d and the area formed by the four intersections a, b', c', and d'. If the ball hits the ball-striking surface 13 vertically, the ball will be returned by traveling in the direction of the normal vector S, as shown in FIG. 1.
When the mass center of the ball is normal to the intersections 17 a, b, c and d, the ball that hits the ball-striking surface 13 is returned in the direction of the normal vector S. The departing direction of a ball depends, to a great extent, on the contact point of the mass center of the ball. However, when the mass center of the ball makes contact with the strings 12' and 12" which have predetermined inclination rates such as f and g, as shown in FIG. 2, the ball will be returned in a direction that deviates a predetermined angle from the normal vector S. As a result, there will be an angular differential between the ball-striking direction of the racket 10 and the direction in which the ball travels. When a person swings the racket 10 in an attempt to strike the ball, it is very likely that the mass center of the ball makes contact with the strings 12' and 12" rather than the intersections 17. As a result, the ball that is returned often travels in a direction deviating a predetermined angle from the direction in which the racket 10 is swung. In other words, it is often difficult for a player to control the precise direction of return of such a ball.
Upon striking an incoming ball, the strings 12 making up the ball-like surface 13 are forced to move or spread aside, as shown in FIG. 4. As a result, the different strings 12 of the ball-striking surface 13 have different tensions. In addition, there is thus created a variation in the number of strings in any per unit area of the ball-striking surface 13. That is to say that the ball-striking surface 13 will not strike the ball uniformly over its entire area.
The prior art methods of reducing the transmission of the shock wave generated by the strings 12 of the ball-striking surface 13 are often ineffective. The shortcomings of the prior art racket 10 described above are true not only with a tennis racket but also with a badminton racket, a squash racket and the like.